On disc: Macbeth

- Carsten Bahr -

- Claudia Ehrhardt -

Macbeth is a metal out fit from Thuringia and they exist for more then 2 decades, but with Wiedergänger they present their 3rd studio album. Their self-titled debut was released in 2006, the follow-up Gotteskrieger was released in 2009. They are on a 3-year-tournament with the releases.

They kick off with Kamikaze a fast tune with thrashy riffs, memorable leads, gang shots (backing vocals) and powerful vocals. Guitar-wise they remind me a bit of Overkill due to the thrashy riffing and the memorable leads, but after a break they show a different facet - a slow folk-ish part -, just to storm off again.

Music from an ancient fun fair leads you into Fritz H., a track about the serial killer Fritz Haarmann, the butcher of Hanover. A mean, up-tempo rocker with dark lyrics. For Begraben they slow down a bit - at least partly -, a song about being buried alive, so it's dark and full of despair. But again the guitar play Ralf Klein and Alexander Kopp adds a melodic edge - and fights the depressive atmosphere. Singer Olli Hippauf is doing well, you believe him and it's like you listen to his fight against death. Fleisch is about cannibalism, but it takes too long til they add a different flavor to it. Actually I think that Macbeth are stronger when they speed up, but the title track Wiedergänger shows that a mix of mid-tempo and fast parts works well, too. The bass part is quite D.D. Verni-like....

Time for the Stalingrad trilogy! The first part is called Kanonenfutter, a thrashy tune with gang shouts and a dash of melodic death metal. With Untergang they present a guitar-driven track based on fast double bass-drumming. It's the guitar melody which adds a memorable edge to it, but the refrain is catchy, too. The last part is called Das Kreuz, it starts with acoustic guitar and vocals. It's a melancholy tune, after about a minute the rest of the band joins in and the tune becomes a slow, melancholy song. Heavy and a bit depressive... I think, Macbeth could have managed to do a conceptual album about Stalingrad without any problems. History offers enough information about these dark days in 1942/43.

After the trilogy there are four bonus tracks, band classics which were polished up and show once more that the band was offering quality releases right from the start.

Macbeth were already active when the Germany Democratic Republic was still existing. Now they present their second album which is called Gotteskrieger. Macbeth use German lyrics which are far from what you get from Böhse Onkelz or Toten Hosen pathos. The lyrics deal with war, battles, heroes and Gods - without being cheesy! I can't believe how well the lyrics fit in. The vocals are powerful and expressive with a slight thrashy note - and a bit pathos. Musically they offer powerful heavy metal with some doom elements and quite a bit Amon Amarth. This combination is targeted at metal fans in general. Fans of Die Apokalyptischen Reiter to Manowar fans, lovers of Amon Amarth and Viking metal to the ones who love Subway To Sally should dig Macbeth. A nice surprise, so check out Macbeth!